Counting Down
by Jalyss
Summary: He had seven days to convince her. And, as usual, nothing ever really goes as expected. [SasuHina] AU
1. The Beginning

_So I started this when I really should be updating Tempest of War... but I couldn't resist! SasuHina is just so adorable! __Anyway, this idea has probably been done before... I thought I'd attempt to write an 8-9 chapter fic and finish it. _Come to think of it... the last time I watched/read Naruto was about... 5-6 years ago, and I stopped just before Shippuden. So, if characters are OoC, my apologies. __

_I have this habit of re-reading a document like 20 times before I even think about posting it... Even so, I have too many errors still in it. Anyone interested in being my beta-reader for this story (and possibly any other future SasuHina stuff), please PM me.  
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_Thank you, thelast-lullaby (tumblr). Hopefully I finish this fic xD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, obviously._

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><p>Things were <em>not<em> going as planned. He would ask, she'd blush and eventually stutter out a yes, and the whole thing would be resolved in less than 5 minutes.

Come on, _every_ girl in the school liked him, so she'd be no exception, right?

"I beg your pardon?" the pretty Hyuuga asked, all her previous puzzlement/curiosity/embarrassment replaced by blatant distrust.

The change in expression was enough to alert him that something was wrong. Nevertheless, he repeated himself, hands in pockets, trying to look as nonchalant about the whole thing as possible (because he sure as hell wasn't _nervous_; he was an Uchiha for god's sake). "Go out with me."

She stared at him for a while before turning her attention to the surroundings, her lavender eyes darting back and forth. They were outside, surrounded by greenery (bushes, trees, flowers, your typical mother nature with birds singing in the background and all that showed the beginning of summer break was freaking cliché), the school building behind her. She appeared to be looking for something, ignoring him.

His eyes narrowed. "Didn't you hear me the second time?" he asked rather impatiently. Did she not know it took almost every scrap of his pride to stand here and basically confess to her? And she had the audacity to ignore him!

She turned her pale gaze back to him. "I heard you perfectly fine. I was just looking for your friends. You _do_ realise who you're talking to, right?" She calmly smoothed out the wrinkles in her white blouse. She wasn't blushing or stuttering, which was not a good sign… In fact, she looked calm and composed, every bit the powerful heiress (which was something he was unused to seeing, not that it was a bad thing per se).

The raven-haired male frowned slightly. If it weren't for the fact that he knew she was shy and modest (normally, honest to god), he would have been offended at her question. "Of course I do. And why?"

She shot him a look of muted disbelief mixed with mild offence as she stopped brushing (imaginary) dust off her navy pleated skirt (her uniform was impeccably neat so it must have been imaginary). "Do you really think I'm that stupid? Just because I'm at the bottom of the social ladder doesn't mean I'm that daft. Your friends are probably all hiding around here somewhere watching this."

Safe to say, this was one of the few times that the onyx-eyed male was speechless and confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You can stop acting so surprised. I understand the situation perfectly. You ask me out. I say yes. Your friends come out when I leave and you lot discuss how pathetic I am for accepting and how you'll stand me up later today for the 'date' because it would have to be today." Both her hands were held up to do the 'quotation mark' thing at the word 'date'. "And then tomorrow, word will spread around that I was so full of myself if I ever believed for one second that Uchiha Sasuke would go on a date with me. Then the whole school will laugh at me and make my last day here miserable." Her voice was quiet, without a trace of emotion, as if she were stating facts. She readjusted the school's sling bag on her shoulder, making sure to avoid his gaze.

He stared at her. "So… you think this is some kind of joke?"

She paused and looked up at him. Lavender eyes narrowed imperceptibly (only he would notice because he… well he just did) and she wrung her hands in exasperation. "Of course it is! It's either a practical joke or some stupid dare, or bet! Why would you, who is ever so popular, with a choice of pretty much any girl in the school, the captain of the basketball team, the student body president, the valedictorian of our year, the co-heir to the Uchiha Corp., the list goes on and on, ever want to even be _around_ a social reject, boring, and ugly girl like me, let alone go on a _date_? It's laughable. This has to be a joke. Isn't it enough that your friends already torment me and now you have to join in? I just want the last two days to be quiet and uneventful, okay? Please find someone else to make fun of."

Before he could form a coherent reply, she'd bowed politely and walked off.

What the hell?

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><p>"Dobe, do you know a Hyuuga Hinata?"<p>

Uzumaki Naruto looked at him, his face scrunched up as he tried to rack his brains. The navy blue uniform hung off his frame messily (it was a wonder he hadn't been reprimanded yet as half the day had gone by already). "Hyuuga Hinata… Oh! The girl with the weird eyes and she always sits in the back corner in chemistry class by herself? Why?"

Obsidian orbs narrowed. Her eyes were not weird! They were pretty, in a lavender-tinted-m-oh-god-he-needed-to-stop-and-could-that-sound-any-cornier kind of way. "What do you know about her?"

"Well… Isn't she the Hyuuga heiress? Err… she hardly ever speaks. I don't think she has any friends, but… I dunno… she's kind of weird, but really nice! Probably why Karin and Suigetsu pick on her. I try to stop them when I see them, but you know they don't listen to me." He made a face. "I never understood how you're friends with them. Why d'ya ask?"

Right now, he wasn't so sure either. "Oh, is that so?" He should've known better than to think _Naruto_ would bully someone. Suigetsu and Karin on the other hand… They were definitely the types to do so. No wonder his secret (super secret) crush was so distrustful of him/them. Wait, how long had _that_ been going on for? He had to go find his two _'friends'_. But first he had to avoid answering Naruto's 'why'.

"Hey, Uzumaki! Fix your uniform!" Iruka yelled down the hallway.

It was about time one of the teachers caught the azure-eyed male.

"Crap! Iruka-sensei! Seeya later, teme!" Naruto ran off before Iruka could make it over.

"Uzumaki, get back here right now!"

Perfect timing.

He walked off to find his two friends and was bombarded by girls from all the year levels (good thing the school was only year 10 to 12), who asked him about his day and complimented him on his looks/grades/whatever, and asked questions about his personal life (he had enough of being asked on dates). He ignored them like usual, none of which seemed to get the hint (at times like this he missed having Hinata's cousin around to divert the attention, _just a tiny bit_ mind you; Neji could be such an ass. Too bad he'd graduated the previous year). Where was Karin when you needed her?

There! Red hair and white hair! "Oi, Suigetsu, Karin," he called out.

The red-head turned around and squealed. "Sasuke-kun!" She ran over, pushing the other girls out of the way. She (threw herself at him) hugged him. "I missed you so much! Did you miss me?" She shot him a dreamy smile before turning to glare at the other girls, who were glaring back. "Get lost, you bitches."

None of them wanted to get into a fight with Karin (who had no qualms about hospitalising people, and how was she not expelled already?), so they left grudgingly, muttering some choice words under their breath.

"Get off me." He pushed the persistent girl off him. He changed his mind; maybe the fangirls would be better company. And for crying out loud, why couldn't she just get together with Suigetsu?

Karin sulked, but complied with his wishes.

"What do you need, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked, coming over (of course when the mob was gone).

Now, how could he phrase it without being completely obvious?

"Stop bullying Hinata."

Like that wasn't completely obvious.

Karin stared at him. "You… _Hyuuga_?! Why?! She practically _begs_ to be bullied. Have you not seen her? Some heiress _she_ is. She's such a loser, so plain and geeky-"

"Shut up." His expression read 'keep-speaking-and-I-will-seriously-harm-you'.

Now both his friends stared at him in absolute shock. Man, he really sucked at these sorts of things (and people wondered why he never expressed himself).

The white-haired male blinked. "Are… are you… _defending_ her? You're not serious? Very funny!" Suigetsu began laughing as if Sasuke had said the funniest thing in the world. "She's so pathetic. I mean, come on, I heard her younger sister may end up being the heiress at the rate she's going."

"What part of 'shut up' do you not understand, Suigetsu?" His glare was so chilling that the two of them could only stare at him in disbelief. "Now, how long has this been going on for?"

Suigetsu blinked. "Uhh… since orientation day?"

That was the _first_ day of year 10. Hell! Karin and Suigetsu were popular and had a rather cruel streak running through them. No wonder Hinata had been so ostracised by the rest of the school populace; nobody wanted to get on the bad side of the pair.

"You two had better not bother her any more or else." His tone was cold. He walked away from their shocked expressions, not waiting for any replies. He'd deal with them later. Now he had to deal with his 'girl-problems'. That was going to be harder to deal with than the psychotic pair. How was he supposed to convince her that he really _did_ care for her?

He blamed Suigetsu and Karin completely, well, mostly. Not like he wasn't a _little_ bit responsible as he had never even interacted with her before (but he couldn't suddenly show favoritism to one girl or she'd be ripped apart by his freaking fan club) the rather sudden 'confession'. Still, he didn't have any experience in this area (even though hundreds of people would disagree). Up until now he had merely ignored females as they were loud, annoying, and quite frankly, a nuisance.

It was Hinata who caught his attention, Hinata who was so very different from the other females. She was graceful, intelligent, kind, be-

He almost slammed his head against a nearby wall (almost, as he couldn't be seen doing such an un-Uchiha-like gesture).

Things would be so much easier if he didn't have to feel these… well… feelings.

No wonder why Itachi never bothered to have a girlfriend. Maybe it would have been easier if he hadn't done anything about it. Too late now. He mentally berated himself once again. He had only needed to keep his mouth shut for another day and none of this would have happened! He'd already kept silent for 2 years, so what was one more day? One day too many, it seemed.

Apparently his brain liked to screw him over on a regular basis (Naruto would not lay off that _one_ time that the blond was, unfortunately for him, a witness to; though, he did have a thousand things he could say in retaliation about his best friend…), and he'd gotten himself in this predicament.

From that one conversation with her (unfortunately his first ever conversation with her and from the looks of it, possibly his _last_ ever conversation with her), he could tell her impression of him was… well it wasn't good. At all. So, he had to convince her that this wasn't some sort of bet/practical joke, improve her impression of him, and then get her to date him (hopefully). That was going to be difficult since she was not like any of the other girls. He'd have to explain that the whole thing _wasn't_ a practical joke at her expense, or a bet to see if she'd go out with him (or fall for him, stupid teenage guys giving the decent ones a bad reputation).Then, go on to explain Suigetsu and Karin's antics and how they were _not_ related to him in any way, shape, or form. Finally, he'd proceed to 'woo' her. Of course, this all hinged on the fact that she would listen to him in the first place... He hoped her kindness extended to things like this.

This would surely be difficult, but he was an Uchiha. He'd take on the challenge.

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><p>He caught her by her arm at the end of the day as both were leaving the school grounds, and dragged her quickly behind some trees to avoid anyone seeing them together (curse his deranged fan club who were already shouting frantically for him; he would transfer them all over to Naruto in a heartbeat if it were possible, or Suigetsu. He didn't really care at this point).<p>

"I- wait… Uchiha-san?" She stared at him, nervousness creeping into her eyes. "Umm…" Her eyes darted around wildly, looking for some excuse to get away from him (or maybe looking for his 'friends' once again?). She feebly tugged on her arm, trying to free her wrist from his grasp (what happened to the confidence she had earlier? It was attrac– no, brain, don't go there).

That was a blow to his ego.

"Look at me," he said authoritatively in an attempt to get her to stop focusing her attention on anything _but_ him. He was pleased to see her eyes snap back to meet his, her movements stopping. Now that he had her full attention, he was at a loss. All previous plans of what he was going to say to her had flown out the window. He continued to stare at her, noting her increasing discomfort at the prolonged silence.

"Umm… Uchiha-san, w-what… w-w-what d-do you w-want?"She bit her bottom lip, her eyes sliding to the left and right, and then meeting his once again.

He sighed. She was terribly uncomfortable with him and he could tell this was going to be rather difficult, and maybe awkward as hell. "I… it wasn't… I meant… it was…" He inwardly cursed at his inability to verbally express himself. She was incredibly clueless; he had a feeling he'd have to work on the verbal communication with her a lot, at least initially. Might as well start off slow. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you."

Hinata nodded slowly, though the mild panic in her eyes remained. She opened her mouth as if to ask something, only to abruptly shut it a moment later when she realised she was going to speak.

An awkward silence followed while he waited for her to spit out whatever it was she was going to say. When she started to avert his gaze again by looking at everything but him, he figured she wasn't going to say anything. What was his plan again? Oh, right, convince her that this wasn't some stupid bet or practical joke. "Hinata." Noting her obvious flinch at his use of her first name, he quickly corrected himself. "Hyuuga." Damn, that sounded so weird since he was used to addressing Neji in that manner. "The whole thing this morning wasn't some sort of bet, dare, practical joke, or whatever. I was being serious."

She nodded once again. At least she was listening to him, though he could tell she still didn't believe his words.

"Karin and Suigetsu are complete asses. I wasn't even aware of their behaviour towards you until the dobe told me at lunch today." He winced inwardly when he saw genuine surprise flicker across her pearl orbs. So she really did think he was an asshole. Upsetting, but nothing he couldn't rectify, right? He'd be _nicer_ this time around. "So… will you go out with me?"

The female Hyuuga stared at him, all traces of nerves gone. For the most part, Hinata was just in complete shock and confused as hell. _The_ Uchiha Sasuke was interested in _her_? Did hell freeze over? Did pigs start flying? When did that all happen and what the heck was she _doing_ as it was happening? Worse yet, was this some sort of perverse daydream? _Because_ _this was not funny_. Maybe she shouldn't have taken the new cold medication and just stuck with Panadol. With her free hand, she pinched herself discreetly and winced at the pain. Nope, not a daydream. At least that was one thing to be thankful for, that she was _not_ going crazy. But that would mean he was telling the truth, and that was something that was still mildly horrifying (mildly, mind you; it was, on the other hand, incredibly flattering).

_He could still be lying._ A small part of her spoke up. _But what would be the point? I mean… tomorrow is the last day of school. After that, we'll all be heading in different directions. _The nice part of her tried to rationalise the situation. _No, there could still be something in it for him to get the only girl in the whole school that wasn't head-over-heels in love with him to, well, fall in love with him_. The pessimistic side of her appeared once more. She frowned. What was she supposed to believe? All she knew about him was that he was incredibly rich, insanely (and I mean _**insanely**_) popular, and arrogant to a T. That and he was overall not a very nice person (at least from what she could tell through observing fellow classmates interact with him). He was also the boy's basketball captain, a position her cousin had held the previous year before he had graduated. He was exceptionally good at the sport (she'd watched some games because of her cousin's involvement), and heard a few compliments about the stoic Uchiha from Neji (and Neji was not one to give out praise). Maybe she would talk to her cousin about this whole ordeal and pray he would not freak out. _**Maybe**_**.**

"W-w-why?" The question came out before she could properly screen her thoughts.

He cocked his head to the side slightly, pausing for a moment as if deciding how to phrase his explanation. He couldn't think of a roundabout way to explain his feelings, so he opted for being direct. "Because I… like you." The last part came out muffled.

She was mortified and doubtful at his admission (and also flattered?). There was absolutely _**no**_ way Uchiha Sasuke just said he liked her. No way! She was seriously going insane; maybe she didn't pinch herself hard enough (she pinched herself again, this time causing her to visibly wince in pain; nope, not hallucinating). Maybe it really was the new meds she'd taken. Oh god, she was definitely going to buy some Panadol the minute she was free of him... "Y-you… w-wha-what?"

The Uchiha sighed (though it was amusing to see her pinch herself). "I. Like. You."

Now she was just shocked and confused as hell. She didn't hear incorrectly the first time around (though part of her kind of wished she had if only to avoid the awkwardness of the whole situation and his obsessive fangirls). So, the question was, what would she do?

She was still incredibly unconvinced at his confession, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt for now (in terms of the bet/deal/dare thing, because she still didn't believe he actually had any feelings towards her) since this was happening all too quickly for her. She needed some time to think about this, scratch that, a _lot_ of time, time which she didn't have. Besides, even if this was a horrible joke on her part, she'd still feel bad if she treated him poorly. Maybe she could ask to be friends first? "U-u-uchiha-s-san…" Hinata was incredibly nervous since he hadn't taken his eyes off her since he'd asked. "I-I d-d-don't umm… know y-you, s-s-so I c-can't accept your p-proposal." She was looking at anything but him at this point, her nerves were everywhere. She took a deep breath and attempted to keep her stutters to a minimum. "B-but, I would l-like it if we c-could p-perhaps get to know each other f-first?"

Sasuke blinked. He was preparing himself for a rejection after her first sentence, so he was glad to see he could have a chance at this. "Fine," he replied since, if he nodded, she wouldn't see it.

"S-seven d-d-days," Hinata blurted out suddenly, then looked slightly horrified at the statement. "Umm… I mean… h-how about seven d-days to umm… get t-to know each other…? S-starting t-t-tomor-row… And th-then aft-ter… W-we'll s-s-see…"

Seven days. He could do this. "I assume you'll let me know at the end of the seventh day?"

She nodded, her eyes on the floor between them.

"Seven days, starting tomorrow," he agreed. He'd give her the rest of today to let this whole thing sink in. He released her and she quickly hugged herself.

"Yeah…. umm… I guess… I'll… seeyoutomorrow." The last part came out quickly and quietly.

He would have replied if she hadn't bolted off so quickly. She should really be on the track team if she could run that fast. He watched her dark hair disappear into the crowd.

So he had seven days to persuade her, huh?


	2. Day 1

_Hi everyone~ This will probably be the quickest update for this story since university starts up in a week... I take a week or so to write and another week to proof-read (since I have the incessant need to re-read it over and over and change things). That, and I need to get back to the fighting scene in my other story... This chapter is kind of slow, but it's all gotta start somewhere!  
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_Thank you Windy120393, Guest, Anon, farahb, 921350, Sheep-san, Lady Whistledown, Fher34, daydreamer102308, exotao, KonnyakuJelly, and aurora0914 for your lovely reviews! Also, thank you to all those that favourited and followed this story. I hope I don't disappoint._

_If you have any constructive criticism, advice, or suggestions, please let me know~ More ideas won't hurt._

**_(EDIT 03/01/15 - thanks farahb. Just a sentence regarding Neji and his overprotectiveness over Hinata only)_  
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><p>When Hinata woke up on Friday morning, she wondered if all of it was some sort of twisted dream her sub-consciousness somehow came up with (she should really stop drinking coffee before she slept and hopefully the effects of the previous medication had worn off). She hadn't slept well, worrying and over thinking about the events that occurred. She <em>had<em> pinched herself yesterday, twice, but… she was still half hoping this was some kind of delusion and she could finish high school quietly.

"Nee-chan, is something wrong?" Hanabi called through her door as she leaned against the door frame, watching her older sister stare blankly at a wall.

The bluenette quickly jumped out of bed. "No, I just…" She glanced at her alarm clock. "…overslept?! Oh no! I'll be out in a minute! I'm sorry about breakfast." She ran to her wardrobe and pulled out her uniform to change.

"It's alright, I got us covered. Just checking up on you. Good thing you packed our lunch last night." The brunette rolled her eyes. "Come on, you only overslept what… ten minutes? Relax. We've still got plenty of time, half an hour even." Hanabi closed the door so that her elder sister could change in peace.

Within minutes, Hinata had made her way downstairs and into the dining area where she saw Hanabi piling syrup on her plate of waffles. This caused her to raise an eyebrow at her sister. "Waffles?"

The younger girl merely scrunched her eyebrows, tongue sticking out from the corner of her mouth, as she proceeded to get _just_ the right amount of syrup on her breakfast. "Yeah, they were at the bottom of the freezer. I was looking for something that required minimal prep time since, you know, I can't cook, and all I need to do is shove them into the toaster. I don't even remember when we bought these, so I thought we might as well finish them off and – oh shit!" The bottle spluttered, oozing out a large glob of the sticky substance. Hanabi glared at the bottle, affronted. "Stupid thing… Nee-chan, can you take some of the syrup off my waffles?"

She smiled at her sister's antics and shoved her plate next to Hanabi's as she sat down. "Just put the extra syrup on."

Hanabi gladly did so, picking up one of Hinata's waffles and dipping it into the syrup. "By the way, nee-chan, are you feeling okay? Yesterday when you got back you were acting all weird and reclusive. It's the last day of high school for you. You should be jumping for joy." The younger girl returned the waffle to Hinata's place and pushed it so it was sitting in front of her older sister.

"Oh… um… I'm alright," she quickly reassured after the initial falter. She didn't want to worry her sister over her strange, surreal problem (which really seemed like something out of a shoujo manga, oh god).

"Obviously it's something if it affected you that much." Hanabi rolled her eyes, something that only Hyuuga's seemed to be able to tell (their eyes were _not_ creepy, by the way). Hinata could tell since the lighting that reflected off Hanabi's orbs moved in a certain manner. "Come on, you can tell me anything, you know? I'm always here for you. I tell you my problems and you listen, and I just want to return the favour sometimes."

Her little sister sure knew how to guilt trip her. She contemplated the thought of telling Hanabi, and figured she might as well. Hanabi would respect her privacy, even if she really _really_ wanted to tell everyone she knew. Besides, it'd be kind of nice to be able to talk about girly things with her sister (if this even counted as girly). She was an emotional mess when it came to this whole thing, so it'd be a relief to tell Hanabi. Maybe her sister would have some useful advice for her. "Well… alright, as long as you don't tell anyone, not even Neji-niisan."

The younger Hyuuga raised an eyebrow and put her fork down while quickly swallowing her food. "I won't tell anyone. Now spill!"

She could tell that Hanabi was highly interested in what she had to say. After all, she never excluded Neji from anything (good thing he was only coming back on Sunday), so she would have 2 days of drilling the 'tell no-one' point into her sister. "Umm… well… Uchiha-san… he… he asked me out…" She quickly grabbed the glass of water in front of her in order to busy herself, taking two Panadol tablets as she did so.

The brunette's jaw dropped (and thank goodness she wasn't holding anything or that'd be on the floor, _especially_ the syrup covered waffles; she inwardly winced at that thought). Only after a few moments of silence did the younger girl speak. "Uchiha… you mean _**the**_Uchiha Sasuke? From Uchiha Pharmaceutics? The one with the humongous, crazy-ass fanclub that is composed of ninety-nine percent of the school? The same guy that's known as the 'king of all assholes' and 'the iceblock'? The guy that's rumoured to have the hots for Uzumaki? We _are_ talking about the same guy, right? Unless, of course, you mean Uchiha _Itachi_, which would be really weird because that would mean he somehow got your cell phone number or that he was stalking you. And not to mention he's like…"

She choked on the water, and quickly put the glass down as she coughed. Was all of that _really_ necessary? And _where _did Hanabi even _hear_ of all that? True, the junior high school was next to the senior school, but there was a roadbetween the two that separated the buildings. Only now did she remember why she was sort of hesitant to tell Hanabi her predicament yesterday. "People think… he… he's _gay_? And with _Naruto-kun_?_"_

Hanabi looked highly amused. "Oh, Uchiha Sasuke. Well…um, yeah? It's all the girls ever talk about! You know, 'cause he hasn't shown any interest in a single female, so people think his interest lies in the _other _gender. And since he has this weird bromance thing going on with Uzumaki…" The brunette quickly ate another piece of waffle, trying not to snicker at her older sister's 'oh-my-god' expression. Obviously Hinata didn't keep up with the latest gossip. "Well what are you waiting for? I want details! What exactly did he say? Where did he ask you? When did he ask you? And most importantly… _what did __**you **__say?!_"

"Hanabi-chan!" Great, now she was getting flustered. "He… he first asked me… before class started yesterday… outside in one of the clearings…Well… not really asked… more like ordered…" She stared at her waffles for a while, before picking up her knife and fork to cut them into bite-sized pieces. The tapping of Hanabi's foot rushed her thoughts. "And I… I didn't believe him! I mean… he's well… he's… _mean_…"

Hanabi snorted. "_Mean_? That's the best you can come up with? Where do you think the title _king_ of all _assholes_ came from? When I look at him, I could totally imagine him kicking puppies, or, you know, mowing them down with a car. Hell, maybe even a steamroller." The brunette waved her fork, with a piece of waffle at the end wobbling dangerously, around as if to emphasise her point.

She frowned at the mental images Hanabi's description wrought. "Hanabi-chan, either put that fork down or eat what's on it right now. I don't want bits of waffle and syrup all over the place. And I really don't think he'd go around abusing animals…" After her sister complied (by stuffing the food in her mouth), she continued. "Yesterday morning before class started he approached me and umm demanded that I go out with him. And… well… you know he's super popular… and I'm… I just spend all my time at school studying, so why would he even _talk_ to me, let alone demand something like that? I thought it was some sort of practical joke… someone from the 'in' crowd asking me out? So I told him to bother someone else with the joke and umm… walked away?"

"Tch, who needs popularity when you're the heiress to the largest media company in all of Japan? Come on, nee-chan, you're really pretty. Maybe he fell in love with you at first sight. Did you go all regal heiress on his ass?" Upon seeing the bluenette's blush, Hanabi smirked. "Good for you. That'll show him not to mess with a Hyuuga. Bet he was speechless. Neji-niisan would be proud of you, if you ever decide to tell him."

"Hanabi-chan! I-I'm really _not_ that…" She sighed, deciding it was pointless to argue with her sister over trivial things. "I… I _thought_ he wasn't being serious… so I was offended that he thought I was stupid enough to fall for it, then it… it just _happened_. I wasn't intending to be rude and… it was the second last day of school… But he cornered me afterwards… and I just couldn't sum up that courage again. I think I was more scared of what he was going to do to me after I just mouthed off at him earlier in the day…"

"And…?" Hanabi had finished her waffles and was now sitting at the edge of her seat, leaning forward eagerly to hear more. "I'm pretty sure your definition of 'mouthing off' isn't the same as his. You're _way_ too polite."

Hinata poked the few remaining pieces of waffle around on her plate. "He told me it wasn't a practical joke or anything… and then _asked_ me if I would go out with him."

"You're kidding, right? Even after the disaster of the first meeting, he'd still approach you? Is this some male ego thing?"

"Umm… he did mention afterwards that he… he… he… helikedme…" She blushed a bright crimson colour and stuffed some waffles in her mouth.

Good thing the younger Hyuuga was used to deciphering what Hinata mumbled out (and luckily she wasn't ingesting anything at that moment). "WHAT?! Oh my god. I've _got _to tell Neji-niisan." Upon seeing Hinata's eyes full of disapproval snap up to meet hers, Hanabi corrected herself quickly. "I mean, _not_ tell Neji-niisan. Anyway… what did you say? Do you _believe_ him? I mean, that's kind of a big thing…"

"I… I said no… since I didn't know him… And… I'm n-not sure what to believe. To be honest… not really…"

The young brunette burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you rejected _the_ Uchiha Sasuke just because you 'didn't know him' and you're still in one piece. Do you know how many fangirls would _kill_, literally, to be in your position? I'm actually really disappointed now that you made me swear secrecy."

"H-Hanabi-chan!" she scolded softly as she shook her head. "Well I… after I asked if we could get to… know each other first… And umm… he agreed. Then…" She hit her head against the table. "I said I'd give him seven days to get to know him… and after, I'd see…. and he agreed," she mumbled out, feeling more and more doomed.

"You… you rejected him, then gave him a chance? Nee-chan, why?! Sure, he's hot and all, but still! Remember? _'King of assholes'_? '_The iceblock'?_" Hanabi shook her head. "And why on earth did you suggest seven days? Aren't you the one that said 'it takes time to get to know what a person's like'? I was under the impression that it was longer than a week!"

Hinata groaned into the wooden surface, and would have hit her head multiple times against the table surface if Hanabi wasn't around (no need to set a bad example). "Otou-san is coming back from Shanghai in a week… And I was thinking about what otou-san would say if he knew… and I just blurted it out! Seven days! I couldn't explain to him why I just suddenly said that so I just… argh! My brain! Then he agreed! Besides… it's rude and unfair if I don't give him a chance, if he's serious. And if this really is a joke on my part… well, at least I was nice about it…"

The brunette shook her head, trying to look disappointed in her older sister, but failed miserably as the shaking of her shoulders gave her away. Hanabi took both empty plates and cups and stood up, heading into the kitchen to wash up as she needed some time to stop laughing before talking to her sister once more. After cleaning the dishes, Hanabi re-entered the dining room. "You're too nice sometimes, nee-chan. Man, your life sounds like some excerpt of a bad shoujo manga. You know, if Neji-niisan finds out, and you didn't tell him, he's gonna be pissed."

"I know! I've just got to… to take some time to sort this all out!

"Alright, alright… So does that mean you're meeting up with him today after school?"

"...I don't know… I just hope he doesn't interact with me during school hours… or his fanclub will kill me…"

"Then how's this arrangement even going to work if he can't talk to you? It's not like you exchanged contact info."

"… let's just get going…"

"You have to tell me _everything_!"

* * *

><p>His brother was way too perceptive for his own good. How Itachi knew that his sudden improved mood had something to do with a female he'd never know. So, he'd left early in order to avoid Itachi's teasing (while it was good-natured, he didn't want to deal with it when he was trying to think about what to do about the situation). And now, here he was, pacing around the school grounds lost in thought.<p>

The less people that knew about this until the final outcome, the better. Not only for Hinata's safety (coughSuigetsuKarincough), but for his as well (goddamn, Neji), not to mention his friends' reactions should any of them hear about this (especially if she ended up rejecting him). Sakura would grill the Hyuuga heiress for information (and then drag her off somewhere, thus ruining his 7 days with her since Sakura would want to go shopping and all those other things females did with one another). Hell, if Naruto found out sometime today, he'd blurt it out to the whole school. And, knowing the blond, he'd probably raid the office and use the intercom system to announce it! All while fending off the administrative office workers, who would be yelling at him to _get away from the P.A. system_. That's what he got for having a complete dumbass as his best friend.

Since it was the last day of year 12, school 'finished' at 12:30, which allowed students to let each other fill out their yearbooks (he had to make a quick escape before he got trapped in the chaos that normally accompanied yearbook signings). That meant he could meet up with _her_ afterwards to…

To _what_?

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He certainly wasn't going to take her to a ramen place (Naruto had asked Sakura out on a date to Ichiraku, and you can guess how well _that_ went). Though… Naruto had a decent, general idea (of course ramen was the only thing that was ever on his mind, that and maybe his frog-shaped wallet and its lack of filling. With the amount of ramen Naruto ingested, he wasn't surprised). They would be released around lunch, so maybe he could ask her to meet him at a restaurant or a café? Maybe the café would be a better idea… It was a lot more casual and girls liked that sort of thing, right?

God, how sad was it that he was getting ideas from _Naruto_ out of all people?

Maybe he should've asked Itachi, especially since he already knew something was up (goddamn older sibling intuition, or whatever the hell it was; he denied being easy to read).

Now all he had to do was tell the petite girl the plan for today. He paused. _Wait a second… I don't have any way to contact her…_ He'd have to hang around the entrance so that he could tell her.

It was on his 8th lap around the general vicinity of the front gate when he saw Hinata finally arrive through the entrance (he had made sure to stay hidden in order to avoid his obsessed fangirls; too bad his pleas to god-almighty fell on deaf ears since _none_ of them were madly chasing Naruto _or_ Suigetsu _or Karin or Sakura_, because why the hell not?).

He watched her walk in by herself, her gaze sweeping the area until her pale eyes landed on his half-hidden form. He jerked his head in a motion that indicated that he wanted to talk to her (he had no interpersonal skills, remember?). At least she seemed to understand the language that is 'stoic-bastard' (Neji probably contributed majorly to that), so she slowly approached him.

"Umm… g-good morning… Uchiha-san…" Her voice was quiet amongst the morning ruckus of the way-too-loud students of the school (it was 8:30; people should not be squealing at irritating pitches and running down people so they could scream 'shut up' to each other in close proximity nor should they be yelling out some sort of unintelligible teenage slang that was usually accompanied by some sort of weird hand ritual).

His automatic response was to give the usual, monosyllabic sound, but he stopped himself. "…morning…" he muttered out instead. "Akatsuki Café at one." Yup, definitely needed to work on communication here. Ordering her to do something was certainly _not_ the way to her heart.

She squeaked and nodded her head quickly. "Umm… c-could you n-n-not umm… t-talk to m-me on school g-grounds?" She eyes kept darting over to the groups of girls that were prowling the school for him. "P-please," she added in hurriedly.

Was she asking that because of his fangirls or because she really didn't want to be around him? He hoped it was the former. "Fine."

She let out a small sigh of relief. "Th-thank you… umm… I should g-get to homeroom now…b-bye…" The bluenette darted off quickly, again not giving him enough time to reply before she was out of sight.

_Maybe it was the latter…?_

* * *

><p>"Teme! You're coming along with me and Sakura-chan to Ichiraku's, right? You know, to celebrate the last day of high school. Iruka-sensei's treat!" Naruto asked while scribbling something long and unreadable in Sasuke's yearbook. The blond had snatched it away from him the minute the bell signalled the end of their high school lives and proceeded to fill it with chicken scratch and poorly drawn figures of what he assumed were the three of them, plus ramen, he couldn't forget the ramen.<p>

Before he could answer, Karin had burst through the door squealing his name while dragging along a very bored looking Suigetsu.

"Hey, Sasuke," Suigetsu said, his expression remained unchanged. "Tell this bitch to release me."

Karin's attention immediately focussed on her companion. "What did you say, you asshole?"

He ignored their bickering since it occurred often enough, and nobody in the classroom was fazed by it. He figured that all the arguing the pair did was the basis of their relationship, whatever that relationship was. To him, they had this love- hate thing going on (though he was sure that if he brought it up with either of them, Karin would vehemently deny it all and Suigetsu would look absolutely appalled).

"What are you two doing here?"

Karin perked up at the question, abruptly stopping her argument with Suigetsu, whom she released. "Sasuke-kun! Can I sign your yearbook? You can sign mine!" She held the black, hard-cover book out in front of her.

As soon as she uttered her request, all the fangirls in the room jumped at the chance to crowd him and ask him the same thing. Soon enough, he was surrounded by annoying girls trying to shove their yearbook in front of him to take and asking to have his yearbook. At least Naruto had taken his yearbook earlier... So fangirls wouldn't be able to steal it off him now. While the loss of the book wasn't a big deal to him, the fact that they could worship it in a shrine dedicated to him was unnerving at best, and was why he'd rather keep the stupid thing.

Even if he did manage to lose the yearbook he had in his hands, it was Naruto's, so fangirls would be writing stupid things in his best friend's book, which would be funny (but knowing Naruto, the blond would read all the creepy comments to him, out loud, in a public place). Plus, he kind of owed it to Naruto to write _something _in it.

But he couldn't write anything with his fangirls surrounding him. "Karin, get them _away_ from me."

The red-head beamed at him. "Of course, Sasuke-kun!" She then proceeded to threaten the lot of them. The collective group had backed off somewhat as none of them had forgotten what Karin had done back in year 10 to that one particularly persistent fangirl that had been stalking him all over the city, or the group of girls that had harassed him at every lunch hour last year, or the girls that… well… you get the idea. While they were all wary, they didn't back down, arguing back with equal ferocity.

He uncapped the black fine-liner and opened his best friend's yearbook to the inside of the front cover.

_Dobe_, he wrote in the top left corner, _I don't know __**how**__ you made it into university, but I guess I'm stuck with you for another 4 years._ He completed it with his signature. Nobody said it had to be a meaningful or long.

He capped the pen and chucked it back inside his bag. Then, he closed the book and slipped it on the desk in front of the blond who was _still_ writing a message and how the hell was he writing so much? He was already three-quarters of the way down the second page of the inside of the front cover, drawing something that vaguely resembled a basketball court (or so he thought). Whatever, the more Naruto wrote, the less _others_ could put anything in, if they managed to get a hold of his yearbook.

While this yearbook tradition may be nice for everyone else, Sasuke did not really see much that he wanted to remember about high school. If it wasn't class lessons, homework, or tests, it was council work, basketball practice, and dealing with fangirls. He had been plagued by fangirls his whole school life and he was pretty sure that would continue all the way through university (if Itachi was any indication).

"Hey, teme!" Naruto shoved his yearbook back at him, the pages opened to the blond's long-ass message. Naruto spotted his own yearbook, closed, in front of him. "Oh, you're done already? Guess I gotta find Sakura-chan and ask her to write something in it!"

"Sure, whatever, dobe." He glanced at the clock that hung above the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. 12:46. He should get going if he wanted to make it there a couple of minutes early. He grabbed his yearbook and stood up.

Karin had turned around, her attention now on him. "Sasuke-kun, are you leaving now?"

"Hn." What did it look like?

"But, but… you need to sign my yearbook!" She looked slightly panicked. "And Suigetsu's!" she blurted out. "And you need to come to with me to that restaurant I was talking about yesterday for lunch!"

"Oi! What about going to lunch with me and Sakura-chan? And Iruka-sensei'll be there too! Come on, teme!" Naruto looked over at him with pleading eyes. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

"What? Since when?" The snow-haired male shot Karin a look before turning his attention to Sasuke. "Look, man, I really don't care…"

Before Suigetsu could continue, his fangirl mob pounced, blocking his exit as they frantically attempted the same crap from before. Except now there were more of them as they had come from the other classrooms.

_The hell?! _He glanced at the fangirl mob in front of him and the clock on the wall. _Oh shit…_

* * *

><p>It was freaking <em>1:37<em> by the time he managed to escape the goddamn school from all the goddamn people that wouldn't goddamn leave him alone. He was very late already and wondered if she'd even still be at the café. He wouldn't blame her if she had already left. Come to think of it… didn't she mention something about agreeing to go on a date and then getting stood up, hence why she believed this whole thing was a 'practical joke'?

_**Fuck!**_

He _had_ to get there. And if she wasn't there, he had to find a way to contact her and tell her about what had happened. He raced through the streets, weaving in and out of the crowd.

He slowed as he approached the quaint little café with a black signboard on the sidewalk advertising their 'great' coffee with a really lame pun (he was pretty sure it couldn't have been any lamer). Sasuke glanced through the shop window and to his surprise (and immense relief), Hinata was sitting at a small table in the corner, sipping what appeared to be the last of a mixed berry smoothie (? he wasn't too sure about that; not that it mattered at the moment). The bluenette closed her book and fumbled with her school bag.

She was going to leave! He'd better make an entrance and stop staring at her from the outside like some sort of _stalker_ (which he wasn't, for future reference).

So he entered the shop and immediately walked over to her table. Moonstone orbs met his as they stared at each other in silence. He recognised surprise and resignation flicker across before she covered her reactions up and looked away from him, her attention on something out the window.

"I-it's one forty-five," she stated, her bag slung over her shoulder. She was making no effort to walk out of the store, nor was she sitting back down at the table.

"I know… it was… it's just… fangirls," he explained, and winced. That sounded like a dodgy answer. "Also, Naruto, Sakura, Karin, and Suigetsu… Yearbooks… and some sort of celebratory crap they wanted to do. I only managed to get away from them all about ten minutes ago." Not that blaming his friends for his absence was really making this situation any better. Even to him, his explanation sounded half-assed.

She seemed to understand the disjointed shit he'd spewed out as she had cast him a doubtful look before sitting back down at the table, bag in lap.

Relieved, Sasuke sat in the seat opposite her and shoved his bag under the table. Almost immediately, a slim, dark-haired waitress had walked over, asking the pair what they would like to order. She cast a flirty wink in his direction, causing him to scowl at her. Biting back a rude retort, he ordered something quickly while Hinata quietly (and calmly) chose something with some sort of fancy name.

"…sorry…"

Hinata's gaze shifted from the window to him, her eyes reflecting surprise at his apology. "I-it's… f-f-fine…" she mumbled, turning her attention to the ornate wooden table between them. "I-I n-need to l-leave in an hour or s-so…"

"Okay." Awkward… God, _Itachi_ wouldn't have this problem (that is, if he ever got himself into this predicament). Why the hell was he having so much difficulty just _talking_ to her?

"How's your cousin?"

She looked startled. "Oh, umm… Neji-niisan… he's umm… fine. Umm… he d-did very well in his first year of business law… He'll be b-back on Sunday night, if you want to c-catch up…?"

Catch up? With Neji? They were… friends of sorts, he supposed. The elder Hyuuga was a sensible, no nonsense kind of guy, which was probably why they got along. Though… 'catching up' with Neji, especially since he was now 'pursuing' Hinata, would certainly not be the definition of _fun_. Neji was fiercely over-protective of his female cousin, as she _was_ the heiress.

"He was p-pleased to know you g-guys won the championships again this y-year…" she blurted out, poking her index fingers together. It was one of her cu… _habits_ when she was nervous.

"Hn." Well, he would have to talk to Neji _eventually_ about this. "I'll text him or something." As much as he wanted to ask if she'd told her cousin about, well, _this_, he decided against it. It was probably not a good idea to bring up their 'relationship'.

Hinata tentatively met his gaze, though every so often, she glanced around. She took a deep breath. "Umm… are you g-going to K-konoha U as well? If you're n-not…"

He waved a hand to cut her off. "I am. Same degree as Hyu- your cousin." He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms in front of him. "I suppose you're doing business management?"

She shrugged and averted her gaze. "My father wants me t-to." A few minutes of silence ensued before she spoke again. "I guess…" she sighed. "I suppose I'll s-see you at uni…"

"…right…"

They both lapsed into silence. Awkward silence. He was looking around the café, but his eyes kept wandering back to the female sitting in front of him. _Of course it's going to be awkward, but you have to start __**somewhere**_.

The pretty waitress walked over and set down the food and drinks easily, while balancing another tray on her arm. "Your orders." She shot him yet another wink before facing Hinata. He had no idea what the waitress said/did, but she managed to make the female Hyuuga turn bright red and quickly look down at her lap. Laughing, the waitress waved her free hand. "Enjoy!" she said as she walked off to another table.

He watched the bluenette, curious to know what the waitress had said to make her turn such a shade. He decided not to push it though. Better play it safe for now.

They both dug into their food, and he was left wondering if he should bring up another topic or let her do so? He could tell that she was still stiff, so maybe he'd wait. After all, both of them were quiet, reserved people.

Sasuke was about three-quarters of his way through his meal when Hinata spoke again. He looked up at her, noting, to his surprise, that she was almost done her pie/tart/quiche/whatever-the-heck-that-was.

"I-I hope this isn't t-too rude b-but… why…?" She had glanced up at him before quickly looking back down at her food. "…why…me…?"

Why – the million dollar question. He didn't answer immediately. There were plenty of reasons why he liked her. Her certainly wasn't going to list them all (that was _**so**_ un-Uchiha-like), nor was he going to give the generic answer of 'I just do' (even if it was true).

After he finished his food, he placed the cutlery on the empty plate in front of him. "… your honesty." He hoped that would make things a bit better.

He saw her twitch, and her head turned from the window to face him. Her eyes were full of surprise for a few long moments before they slowly softened in understanding and acceptance. She gave him a shy smile, which in turn surprised him (though he didn't show it).

_She's even prettier when sh-_

He shoved that thought out of his mind. Uchiha's didn't think of sappy things. It seemed like he gave a 'good' answer (and one he didn't have to explain) since the silence that ensued didn't feel as awkward as before. It was more relaxed, and that was indeed a good sign.

"Y-you're rather… considerate…" She quickly hid behind her drink, taking a sip of the smoothie.

Just to mess with her a bit. "You sound surprised. What were you expecting?"

Sure enough, she blushed and hastily put down the glass. "I-I'm s-sorry! I d-d-didn't mean t-to of-fend you! It's j-just…!"

He smirked. "Relax, I was kidding."

"Oh…" She poked her index fingers together in a sheepish manner. "Umm… I… th-"

Instrumental music sounded from the Hyuuga's bag. She jumped in her seat and quickly dug through the bag. "S-sorry, Uchiha-san… I need t-to take this… if you don't mind? It's my sister…"

He waved a hand. "Go ahead."

She pressed the button on her cell phone; a fluffy panda hung off the device. "Hanabi-chan why are you…" There was a long pause while she listened to her sister say some things. "Oh my… is it two forty-five already? I didn't even…"

It was entertaining to see her blush.

"Umm… umm…" She looked rather flustered, and she kept glancing over at him. "I'm kind of busy at the moment…"

Even if she kept her voice down, the corner she'd chosen to sit in was quiet, and he would be able to hear everything she said.

"I'm w-with someone right now…" She looked rather embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Hanabi-chan! I completely…" She paused. "S-stop laughing! Just give me fifteen minutes and I'll be there… See you."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Something up?"

"Oh, um… I need to p-pick up my sister… I'm r-running late... I hope you don't mind? I'm really s-sorry about this…" She fiddled with her cell phone.

"It's fine." He waved over the waitress and asked for the bill. "I'll pay, don't worry about it," he said to Hinata before she could pull her wallet out.

"I-I couldn't, r-really! It's f-fine! I can… A-and w-we're n-not actually…"

"Just let me treat you for this week. We both have enough money to pay for it, so it's fine."

She still looked hesitant, but nodded slightly. "O-okay…"

The waitress returned, and he handed her some cash, telling her to keep the change (and she grinned at the large tip when she walked off).

"So… are you free tomorrow…?" he asked as they walked out of the café. He hoped there was at least a few hours a day where he could spend some time with her, or he wouldn't have enough time to 'convince' her in a week.

She came to a stop next to the signboard. "Umm… I'm free all d-day until five…?"

He paused. He quickly ran through typical 'date' places in his head. She probably liked animals, right? Most girls did (and Sakura claimed he didn't pay any attention to what she said). "Did you… want to go to the zoo?"

Hinata stared at him for a moment, as if she couldn't believe he wanted to go to the zoo (and he didn't; well, he didn't really care for the place but… hey, if she liked it, then whatever). "I… haven't b-been in a l-long t-time. That w-would be nice." She gave him a warm smile.

"Does eleven sound good?" He definitely needed to see more of that smile (preferably directed at him, of course).

"Eleven's f-fine. So… I'll m-meet you there at eleven?"

"Yeah."

"Okay…" She fidgeted with her cell phone again, playing with the black-and-white poofball of a panda. "Umm… c-can I h-have your n-number…?" Her gaze was fixed on the accessory, and she was so quiet that he'd only just heard her.

He blinked, surprised she'd asked before he had the chance to. "Sure."

They exchanged contact information.

"W-well… I should g-get going… Umm… I'll s-see you t-tomorrow, Uchiha-san." She bowed slightly.

"Yeah… see you tomorrow." He watched her walk away before she vanished around a corner and let out a sigh after. At least he hadn't screwed this up, and hopefully he wouldn't mess up tomorrow either.

Sasuke was in a relatively good mood as he headed back home. True, they didn't talk a lot, but starting slow was better than freaking her out. Besides, neither of them were talkative people. For him, this seemed more like her getting used to him (which really sounded like he was trying to tame some sort of animal; he inwardly winced). Though… she _did_ seem to relax a bit more after that one query…

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice Suigetsu and Karin watching, mouths agape, from behind some potted palms.


	3. Day 2

_So, university's started up and this honours year already looks to be hectic. All of March and most of April I've spent learning how to synthesise my compounds and use the equipment! I finally finished my preliminary presentation and research proposal, and so spent the past few days writing this chapter. Might just stick my other SasuHina fic on hiatus. I'm sorry for the late update; I'm super busy with my research project!  
><em>

_Recently got into Jack Frost x Elsa (RotG x Frozen) because... fanart is extremely convincing? Ahaha, I don't like crossover pairings, but this was too cute... Reminds me of how I fell in love with SasuHina, all the good fanart. _

_Sasuke's just so much fun to write as - a grouch xD  
>Only proof-read this a couple of times. I'll go back and fix the errors later.<br>As always, suggestions and questions are welcome~  
><em>

_Thank you to Rhe Muliya Young, aurora0914, mac2 (Naruto's too goofy and fun-loving to do such a thing), Fher34, farahb, Pressing Point, Love-MM, Lady Whistledown, 921350, tactics2012, Aki Horuzumi, Death-Angel-of-Anime, KonnyakuJelly, Ana, Toadettegirl2012, Guest, qpenelope, and kandita (thank you for taking the time to review **both** chapters) for your lovely reviews! They mean a lot to me :)_

**_(EDIT 03/01/15 - thanks, farahb! Change regarding Sasuke noticing Hanabi in the window)_**

* * *

><p>"Meeting up with friends, otouto?" the elder Uchiha asked idly as he watched his younger brother run around the house looking for something after the morning meeting. "Didn't you let them know you were busy until after ten?"<p>

Sasuke couldn't be bothered to dignify his brother with a response as he continued to search. Where the hell did he put that notebook? He had to find it before…

"Looking for this, otouto?" Itachi's voice sounded rather smug.

He swirled around and stiffened when he saw the small black book he had been looking for in brother's left hand. "...No..." Goddamnit, Itachi was probably going to end up teasing him about its contents now.

The taller male looked way too amused for his liking while he flipped open the book and scanned the first few pages. "Really? Well, of _course_ you wouldn't need all these dating tips and what-not. You're an Uchiha. These things should come second-nature to you. I'll just..." Itachi held the notebook above the conveniently placed garbage bin, his expression impassive (but the glint of amusement in his eyes was a dead giveaway). "Throw this away..."

"Aniki!" He stormed over and snatched the book from Itachi's hands, quickly shoving the thing in his pocket so his brother couldn't take it from him again. He cursed himself for leaving it in the living room the night before.

Itachi smirked at him. "Are you picking up your _date_?"

Sasuke growled, meeting his brother's bemused gaze with one full of annoyance. Of course Itachi knew, so there was no point to trying to deny it any longer. "She's... no... It's complicated," he eventually muttered out, knowing full well his brother could hear every word he said (because for some reason, Itachi had impressive hearing when it came to the wrong thing, a fact he cursed often enough).

"Who's the girl?"

"...Hyuuga Hinata..." He could tell his older brother was fighting to keep a straight face. He mentally berated himself for his forgetfulness once again.

"Oh, Hinata-chan? Ahh, you have good taste, otouto."

He glared at his brother. "The hell, aniki?"

"I've met with her a few times at the formal dinners that you hate and refuse to go to. Naturally she attends because she's the heiress. With your social skills, I'm curious as to how you managed to get her to date you."

He really wanted to wipe that smug look off his brother. "Shut up."

The smirk on the older Uchiha's face was never good. "She _is_ rather charming, in an endearing manner. And she is pretty, especially when she blushes." Upon seeing the pissed-off expression on his younger brother's face, Itachi continued on. "She dances well and is very polite. She makes a good candidate for a wife, wouldn't you say, otouto?"

"Aniki... you..."

"Oh relax, otouto, I'm kidding." The older male's smirk turned devious. "Though, if you ever decide to let her go for whatever reason, I wouldn't mind taking over."

"I'm going to _kill _you!"

* * *

><p>As much as he loved his older brother, Itachi was (sometimes) a pain in the ass. He gazed around the entrance of the zoo, searching for a head of midnight hair. He was 10 minutes early, so he wasn't really expecting her to be here yet. It was always a good habit to be early, but it did nothing for his nerves. He was an Uchiha; Uchiha's don't get nervous!<p>

Well, Uchiha's also manage to get the girl (cough).

That would come in due time.

Would she even show? Would she stand him up? Would she show up late as 'payback' for yesterday? He was pretty sure she wouldn't ditch him or arrive late as it wasn't in her nature, but… He couldn't ignore that small voice in his head that whispered all his doubts.

And how was he supposed to convince her in 7 (well 6 now) days that she should give him a chance? 7 days was much too short to do anything. Hell, to even make a good friend in 7 days was challenging.

"U-uchiha-san… Good morning."

His head snapped up, and he was somewhat disappointed at her attire. He understood yesterday, since they had to wear the school uniform (and it was baggy and unappealing on her; she probably wore it 2 sizes too big), but he would have thought she would at least wear something that was more flattering than a pair of jeans and an oversized white and purple sweater. Wasn't it a bit too warm for a sweater? It _was_ the beginning of summer break, after all. "You sure don't dress like the heiress to one of the richest families in Japan."

Pale eyes widened and cheeks took on a lovely shade of red. "I… I…. it's c-comfortable!" Her shock soon shifted to indignation. "And… it's n-not like I have to impress anyone."

_Ouch_. She was right. She didn't have to impress him, _he_ had to impress _her_. And indirectly insulting her sense of fashion was not going to win him any points. Come to think of it, what was he actually expecting her to show up in? Something cute? Something that accentuated her already attractive features? He was sure she would show up in something designer, but her outfit certainly didn't seem like it was. "I didn't…. it wasn't…" He sighed in frustration. He just couldn't suck it up and apologise like a normal person, oh no. Instead, he had to mutter out disjointed beginnings of apologies, but never actually getting to the apology part of the sentence. Besides, that comment wasn't meant to be insulting; it was just an observation.

Then again, his tone of voice made majority of the things he said sound like an insult.

Her eyes softened slightly. "It's f-fine. I just don't s-spend t-time on things like th-that, so I s-suppose it is unexpected…"

It was surprising how she managed to either read him or forgive him so easily. Either way, it made his life just that much easier. There was another reason of why he liked her to add to the checklist. "Let's go." He moved away from the low brick wall and walked in the direction of the entrance of the zoo, glancing back once to see if she was following (which she was).

The pair waited in line, and Hinata glanced at the pricing board before rummaging through her handbag. She pulled out her black wallet and opened it, looking through it.

"Hyuuga…"

She met his gaze, holding her hand up to stop him from continuing. "U-uchiha-san… I know y-you said that you'd pay b-but… We b-both have money… so… p-please… I'd feel b-bad…"

How could he say no to her? She must have felt strongly about it if she was bringing it up again today. The determination in her eyes told him that she wouldn't back down without a fight. "…fine. But you're not paying me back for yesterday."

She blinked, her hand retracting from her wallet empty. A slight pout was on her face. "H-how did you know I w-was going to…?"

Sasuke snorted. "It's obvious. That's just the kind of person you are."

Hinata stared at him, eyes widened faintly in shock.

He didn't really see what was wrong with that statement. She was, after all, a generous, selfless person. Nothing clicked until he saw the slight unease in her eyes. Wait, did that make him sound kind of stalker-ish? "The dobe talks about how nice you are," he added, hurriedly.

"Oh…" The tension eased from her shoulders as they made their way to the counter. Both of them pulled out money to pay for their own entrance tickets.

Within minutes, they had made it through the gate, both of them in a somewhat awkward silence. Hinata nervously opened the map and focussed her attention on it. Small children ran around them, their parents yelling after them as they tore down the path and bumped into other people, who were about as impressed as he was (which was saying something).

Right, that's why he didn't want to come here. There were too many irresponsible parents who couldn't control their spawn from hell. He mentally sighed; he was going to have a headache after this. The things he did for…

"Where do you want to go first?"

He heard a small squeak come from his left, and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards imperceptibly. He'd better be making her nervous, in a good way of course.

"Umm…" Hinata fidgeted with the map, crinkling the bottom-left corner and smoothing it out once more. "How about p-penguins?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

They briskly bypassed more spawn of satan with their annoyingly loud voices (and he had to restrain himself from just extending his leg and tripping the little bastards; why couldn't they stop _wailing_?). Okay, perhaps putting all the blame on the children was a bit unfair. Children learned from example, which meant…

_It's all the stupid parents' fault_.

He glared at the parents whose children were obviously the ones in charge. And they didn't even notice his death glares, which convinced him that they really were stupid. People should take some kind of parenting test or whatever, and only by passing it would people be allowed to have children. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea; it sure as hell would reduce the number of badly behaved kids in Japan at the least.

"Um… Uchiha-san… is s-something wrong?" her quiet voice cut through his haze of annoyance.

"What?" He turned his attention to her. She was looking up at him worriedly. "No, it's nothing…" His gaze flickered around the immediate vicinity. They were still following a worn out dirt path. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Penguins?"

She blinked a couple of times before hastily bringing up the map to shield her face from his. "I-I was… w-we're almost th-there…" The bluenette hesitated a moment before she turned abruptly and briskly walked down the path that veered off to the right, not bothering to look back to see if he was following.

It was cute how she got embarrassed rather easily. _**If**_ he ever told her that, she'd probably get more embarrassed and then it would just be an endless cycle, wouldn't it?

The penguin exhibit was, luckily, not surrounded by dozens of screaming children. To his relief, there were only a couple of teenagers around, though the blatant PDAs were completely unnecessary. Hinata was embarrassed by some of the couples and turned her attention to the penguins. After a moment, she seemed entranced by the small black-and-white birds as she pressed her hand against the glass for one of the penguins to swim over and inspect. She giggled and moved her hand around, the penguin following it for a time before it swam away.

He glanced over at the sign that accompanied the exhibit and blinked.

_Jackass Penguin_.

What kind of name was… weird. Some people obviously had nothing better to do.

He walked over silently to stand next to her, paying more attention to the petite girl rather than the penguins themselves. She looked like she was enjoying herself, her eyes softening and her smile genuine.

They ended up walking through the rest marine exhibit, seeing polar bears, walruses, sea lions, and god knows what other type of animal there was in there. He couldn`t remember them all mainly because _spawn of satan_ and _fangirls_. The 'conversation' consisted of mainly Hinata's 1 or 2-liners about the animal they were viewing (though he was sure that those were more to herself rather than an actual conversation) and his noncommittal grunts or single word answers (a single sentence, if he was feeling generous).

But there were times where they'd exchange glances, and he'd understand that she was okay with his silence and their lack of conversation, and she'd understand that he was fine with this whole zoo trip and that he too was okay with the lack of conversation.

It seemed like they communicated better non-verbally. After all, actions spoke louder than words.

He remained close to her, but at a respectable distance as to not invade her personal bubble (because he sure as hell wouldn't want anyone to invade his without permission, and what he wouldn't give to trip the little bastards if it were socially acceptable). She appeared to be completely oblivious to the number of stares they were getting, her attention focussed on all the animals they came across. The stares from females around their age he ignored easily, since he was used to being a walking-fangirl-magnet. What he couldn't ignore were the guys that were checking out Hinata.

Thus, irritated, he moved a bit closer, hovering at the edge of her personal bubble with a scowl marring his face.

He couldn't tell if she minded since she just wouldn't stop staring at the sea lions (which looked dead to him since they were sprawled on the rocks unmoving). It wasn't until the trainer came out with a bucket of fish did all the sea lions suddenly regain life and hop-slid over to the male in the black wetsuit. The blond guy fed the animals, much to the crowd's (minus him) delight. He heard Hinata coo quietly, making that 'awww' sound.

Those seals reminded him of Naruto, only doing things when ramen was involved. Seriously, it was like an addiction for the hyperactive blond. If he ever had to wake up Naruto, all he had to do was say the word 'ramen' and the blond would bolt out of bed screaming _WHERE_?

"Have you seen a baby harp seal before, Uchiha-san?" Hinata asked, half distracted by the barking noises the seals were making.

Apparently, when she had something to admire, she wouldn't stutter at him. "...no…?"

She swirled to face him, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, you should! They're just so adorable! They're so small, and white, and fluffy, and cute, and round like a poofball."

Her description was giving him a very strange mental image, something akin to a weird furry basketball with eyes. "Right." At least the animals were making her less nervous around him. She seemed to be a lot more open with something to occupy her mind with. And she looked so damn _happy_ talking about furry basketballs that it was cu–

The lavender-eyed girl giggled and looked at him knowingly, as if she knew he couldn't imagine such a thing, before turning back to the seals, which were now swimming since mealtime was over. "Too bad they don't have any here… because they don't look anything like furry basketballs."

Wait, how did she know?

She smiled. "You're such a g-"

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here?" a familiar female voice called out to his right.

Looking over, he mentally groaned. What the hell were Suigetsu and Karin doing here? "I could ask the same of you two."

Hinata had looked over to see who called out to him. Upon seeing both of them, her eyes widened and she quickly averted her gaze, her smile dropping as she slowly moved away from him. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. She froze and looked up at him with an accusing 'what do you think you're doing?'.

"Wait… trust me on this," he muttered.

She gave him a look that basically screamed '_are-you-fucking-kidding-me?'_ that is, if she cussed. And then he realised how dumb that sounded. He couldn't expect much in the trust department on only day 2. That plus Suigetsu and Karin? Yeah, not happening.

She visibly hesitated before tugging her wrist from his grasp. "Fine." And he could clearly hear the unsaid words of _'but if you fuck up, this is over',_ though not exactly in those words but the message was clear. She remained, though she had taken a couple of steps away from him before Suigetsu and Karin made their way over.

He hissed in frustration. Out of all the times to see his two friends, why did it have to be when he was out with Hinata? Neither of his friends looked surprised, so he couldn't help but wonder if they had followed him here. Knowing Suigetsu liked to screw up his life and Karin… well… he couldn't help but be sceptical.

"No, seriously, why the _fuck_ are you two here?" he asked once again before they could avoid his question.

"Well… I saw Suigetsu walking around the park close by, and I was looking for a stuffed umm… kangaroo. So I asked Suigetsu where I could buy one, 'cause I didn't know where, and he suggested to go to the zoo 'cause they have a lot of stuffed animals in the gift shop, so here we are!" Karin declared, looking rather pleased with herself.

There was no way in hell he was buying that nonsense. Why would you ever pay to go into the zoo to only buy a stuffed animal? "Then where is the kangaroo?"

The red-head blinked. "Uhh, well I was going to buy it, but then we err saw you! Yeah."

"The gift store is near the exit, which is far, _far_ away from the marine exhibit. So unless you can see through walls…" He deadpanned.

Karin and Suigetsu stalking him?

_Confirmed._

"Whatever, man, what are you doing here then?" Suigetsu said rather nonchalantly, as if they weren't just busted for stalking him. What an obvious change of topic.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Seriously, why couldn't it be Naruto and Sakura that were here instead of these two? Under other circumstances, he wouldn't mind seeing the 'candy-cane-pair', as Naruto liked to call them (_"because their hair colours are the colours of candy canes, duh, teme!"_). But for it to be the two that bullied Hinata all through high school? Yeah, his luck was shit today.

The two of them were now standing in front of him, and he couldn't really delay answering the question without sounding suspicious. Might as well tell the truth and enforce the fact that they should _leave Hinata alone_, especially since both of them were also attending Konoha University, although taking different degrees than him. "I'm here… with Hyuuga…"

"WHAT?!"

He wasn't sure who was louder, Suigetsu or Karin. Their exclamation caused a number of people to look over at them and shake their heads, their faces practically saying _'psh, teenagers'_. Whatever, people, _spawn._

"Why the hell are you here with her?"

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun, what the-"

"Is this some sort of company thing?"

"Why would he have to do a company thing? Hyuuga's media and Uchiha's pharmaceutical."

"Shut up, Karin. Maybe they need to broadcast an ad or something."

"You think you're so-!"

"Would you both shut the hell up?" Sasuke glared at them, not in the mood for any of this crap and resisting the urge to rub his temples. "It's none of your business. Now will both of you just _leave_ me alone?"

"Oh come on, Sasuke-kun! We should hang out over break anyway! I'm sure _Hyuuga_ doesn't mind, do you, _Hyuuga_?" asked Karin pointedly.

The three of them looked over at the heiress, who met Karin's eyes warily. "Not at all," she replied calmly, albeit quietly.

"Great!" Karin chirped as she took possession of Sasuke's right arm, hugging it to her chest.

He twitched. He was pretty sure that Hinata was _not_ okay with this. And he'd really like his arm back, but Karin's grip was vice-like, as usual. He attempted to remove Karin, but all efforts failed and he was left to sigh in resignation. This was the wrong time for them to be persistent.

"Let's check out the lions!" the red-head said excitedly. Without waiting for a reply, she dragged Sasuke along with her, while also grabbing Suigetsu's arm with her free hand.

The raven-haired male looked back at his 'date', who was trailing about 2 metres behind them and looking anywhere but at the trio. If he asked her to walk up with them, she'd be uncomfortable as hell, but if he left her walking behind them…

_Fuck_.

Irritated because _friends sometimes_, he yanked his arm out of Karin's grasp (she relaxed for a second and he took full advantage of that), shooting both his friends a 'don't-fuck-with-me-right-now-because-I'm-not-in-the-mood' look. As much as he valued their friendship, he was angry at the way they treated the Hyuuga heiress. Yeah, he knew they were jerks, but he'd never given it much thought. "Don't you dare do anything to her, you understand?" he hissed in a low undertone as a warning. "I'm fucking serious." Without waiting for either of them to reply, he turned around and walked back towards the quiet female.

"U-uchiha-san…?" Hinata asked warily as he fell in step with her, her index fingers pressing against one another in a nervous motion.

"Karin and Suigetsu are… persistent… for lack of a better word."

Her hands moved down to fidget with the edge of her sweater and shrugged. "It's n-not a big problem… M-maybe you sh-should hang out with th-them instead…"

_Goddamnit_. "I'm here today with _you_, Hyuuga." He stuffed his hands in his pockets irritably. When the pair in front looked back at him, he shot them yet another glare, and they exchanged looks with one another before returning their gazes to the front (although they had slowed a bit so that they were closer, and he was pretty sure they were eavesdropping on his conversation). "I would rather spend time with-"

"SASUKE-KUN!" Karin exclaimed as she was somehow next to him, suddenly gripping his arm and tugging him towards the lion enclosure. "Look! Aren't they cool?"

That was probably one of the most obvious attempts at distracting someone Sasuke had ever seen (and he knew _Naruto_). And by the time he called her out on it (_"Karin, what the fuck?!"_), Karin had already dragged him away from Hinata, chattering away about lions and their habits, and _how the hell did she know so much about lions?_

He glanced back at the shy girl only to see his male friend casually standing next to her and talking to her.

What.

He made non-committal noises to Karin's chattering, giving off the appearance that he was indeed listening to her, which therefore encouraged more talking… He was attempting to extricate himself from the situation without ringing too many alarm bells in Karin's head. Luckily for him, it took rather extreme measures to even ring the first bell.

Hinata was replying to Suigetsu, but from the carefully guarded expression on her face, he assumed that the conversation wasn't pleasant (especially knowing how crude the white-haired male was at times, and the fact that she was slowly edging away from Suigetsu).

Trust them to fuck up his date.

And then, to his annoyance, Karin yanked him away towards the leopards, away from Suigetsu and Hinata. "Karin…"

"Oh come on, Sasuke-kun! Can't I spend some time with you? It's been ages!" The ruby-eyed female let him go and crossed her arms.

Lies! He saw them yesterday!

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't actually mind hanging out with Karin and Suigetsu. But these weren't normal circumstances. These were 'get-the-girl-to-fall-for-you-within-a-certain-time-frame' circumstances. He ignored her and glanced back at where he last saw Suigetsu and Hinata and… they weren't there anymore…? Where the hell did they go?!

"Hey, are you here by yourself, pretty girl?"

He turned his attention back to Karin, who was being hit on a guy that looked at least 10 years older than her. Creep.

"No, I'm here with my friends. Now get lost!"

"Aw, honey, don't be like that."

Why was this all happening now? He walked over and stepped between Karin and the blond. "Look, she's not interested. Go find someone else to bother. If you want to cause a scene in front of all these _people_, then go ahead," he challenged.

Tall, blond, and obviously dumb scoffed and glared at him before sauntering off as if he owned the place.

"Sasuke-kun! Oh my god, thank you so much!" Karin's eyes were sparkling and she was looking up at him in adoration.

He let out another sigh. This day was _not_ anything like he thought it would be. The only thing that seemed to have gone accordingly was _meeting_ up with Hinata at the entrance… "Hn." He placed a hand on Karin's head and ruffled her hair gently, a rare gesture of affection on his part. "Some people can't take a hint. Also, we should go find Suigetsu and Hyuuga."

Karin followed him obediently. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, why _are_ you with Hyuuga, anyway?"

Scratch the headache from the children, he was getting one from his friends' antics. Where the _hell_ were Suigetsu and Hinata? "I asked her out," he replied bluntly as he turned his head. He felt Karin tug on his shirt from behind, so he stopped, knowing what the following conversation would entail. He could handle it.

"You… asked her out? Do you actually like her, Sasuke-kun?" Karin's voice was small, afraid.

"If I start dating her, I'm not going to completely abandon you guys, you know," he said rather gruffly, avoiding the question. "Geez…" The red-head was like a possessive younger sister that had an older brother complex (something he could recognise because well… Itachi, and shut up, don't judge). And he knew that Karin knew because he'd told her so when she'd confessed to him a couple of years ago, and she had accepted it.

Karin hugged him from behind. "…really…?"

He sighed once more. Karin really was like a little sister with a brother complex. "Really," he affirmed.

There was a moment's silence before his friend let him go. "Alright…" The red-head fell in step with him as they continued on their way to find the other two. "What do you mean by 'if'?"

He groaned. This would be so embarrassing to explain. Come on, _the_ Uchiha Sasuke being unable to get the girl he wanted in one fell swoop? Psh. "There's a one week trial." Why was he even bothering to explain this all to her?

"What? You mean she doesn't _already_ like you or something?"

"No." His voice was laced with annoyance. Way to rub that fact in.

"Okay, fine." She pointed in a direction away from the enclosure, seemingly indifferent to the conversation. "It's lunch time now anyway. Suigetsu and the girl should be where all the food is by now."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you two plan this?"

"What? Us? Plan? Noooo." Her tone of voice was completely unconvincing. The added fact that she increased her pace told him otherwise.

He hurried along after her, not wanting to leave Hinata alone with the two of them, just in case. Trust his friends to come along and mess up his plans with the heiress. He already didn't like crowds as there were just too many people invading his personal bubble. Stupid girls needed to stop slipping him their phone numbers as they walked by him. Not only was it annoying, but it was also kind of creepy.

Apparently girls found guys with scowls on their faces attractive or something, or so he surmised from the number of paper slips he'd already thrown in the conveniently placed garbage cans around the place. An attractive blond bumped into him, giving him a flirty wink before walking off. He tried not to shoot her a look of disgust. Key word: tried.

The offended look on her face was priceless.

Whatever, woman, he was so not interested. Wasn't his irritated expression a dead give-away?

It wasn't too long after when he spotted the large white-and-red striped umbrellas that towered over the sturdy wooden tables and benches. Both of them better be there, or he would seriously strangle someone.

Maybe that blond woman.

Was spending time with Hinata really too much to ask?

"Yo, Sasuke, Karin, over here!" Suigetsu was waving him over and generally being loud about the whole thing. The bluenette looked rather uncomfortable sitting across from the white-haired male while she stared at the table's surface as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

What the hell had Suigetsu done?

He walked ahead of Karin, sitting down next to the awkward Hyuuga before Karin could.

"I'll hold the table with Sasuke. You guys can go get something to eat first," Suigetsu offered.

Karin hopped over to Hinata. "Alright, let's go, Hyuuga!" the red-head said enthusiastically before tugging on the heiress' arm and dragging her off somewhere.

He blinked. Yeah, those two were _so_ doing this on purpose. Was it Suigetsu's turn to 'talk' to him about this whole 'date'? Maybe he should just grab Hinata and run off somewhere, except that she'd probably be reluctant to do such a thing since she was still… what… nervous around him. Irritated, he shot a glare at Suigetsu before hurrying after the girls.

He was way better off when he didn't possibly have a love life. The only things he ever had to worry about were basketball practice, grades, and his family. Throwing a potential girlfriend into the mix was seriously complicating everything. Day 2 and his progress with her was not what he was hoping it to have been by now.

Everything that mattered to him beforehand, he'd never had to put much effort into. But then along comes Hinata and… Maybe he was too used to getting what he wanted so easily.

He grabbed the red-head's arm and yanked her back. "What. The. Hell?" His voice was even and controlled. He was _not_ going to snap in front of Hinata.

"Sasuke-kun?" Karin sounded confused, though he was fairly certain she knew exactly what he meant.

"You and Suigetsu need to stop this. Right. Now."

Confusion was still apparent on Karin's face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He clenched his fists. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't need your approval on anything I do, and I sure as hell don't need you to meddle in my business. I know that this is mostly your doing, Karin, since Suigetsu doesn't really give a shit."

The ruby-eyed female spluttered. "Well, I just wanted to make sure! She's not even that pretty and actually, she's rather plain and boring. What if she's just after your looks and your money?!"

"Excuse you," a quiet, but annoyed voice interrupted before he could retort to Karin's insult. His gaze flickered to the bluenette, who was standing off to the side. Pale eyes were narrowed at the other female and her mouth was set in a stubborn line. "I honestly don't care that you keep saying I'm plain and boring since I _know_ that already. But why would I, heiress to the Hyuuga fortune, need Uchiha-san's money when it is quite clear to majority of people that I have enough money? And, for your information, I would have been perfectly fine going the rest of my life without ever saying a word to Uchiha-san. I am only out right now with him because _he_ _asked_ _me_ to give him a chance. I will give him a chance as that is my decision, but don't you think you should be asking _him_ why he even wants to associate with me and not the other way around? I didn't approach him first. And if I'm going to date someone, appearance is not a priority. I'd rather be with someone that I can be comfortable with and that can _understand_ instead of someone whose only redeeming feature is their attractiveness." Her last comment was said rather flippantly.

Sasuke and Karin stared at her in shock for a few moments. Hinata still looked fairly offended at Karin's accusations. Her voice throughout the whole speech had not risen in volume; it had been quiet and firm. He was impressed. The Hyuuga female had not once stuttered in the entire thing.

The red-head's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she managed to find her voice. Obviously this was the first time Karin was seeing Hinata stand up for herself. "And here I was thinking you had no backbone," she retorted. "We'll see, Hyuuga. I'll be keeping an eye on you. I don't like you at all, but you have earned _some_ of my respect for that. _Some_." She held her left index finger and thumb about half a centimeter apart. "If you do anything to hurt Sasuke-kun, then you will have to deal with _me_."

"I can look after myself," he growled out to his female friend.

"I know, I know, but I _want_ to." Karin smiled easily at him before turning her attention back to the bluenette. "Now if you excuse me, that pizza over there looks appetising." With a nod of her head, she walked over to the stand being attended to by a male whose blond hair was done up in a high ponytail.

Silence reigned between the two as they watched Karin chat to the blond male who was waving the cooking spatula around and hey was that Deidara? Wait until he told his brother; Itachi would end up teasing the blond for ages to come. He glanced at Hinata, who was watching the interaction between Karin and Deidara-the-pizza-guy-who-accidentally-chucked-the-spatula-at-some-guy's-head with mild interest. "You're not plain and boring." He wondered why that was the first thing he mentioned and shouldn't that be kind of alarming that he focussed on _that_ out of all things first?

She jumped, obviously not expecting him to say anything, let alone that. "Um… th-thank you?" She was looking anywhere but at him while she poked her index fingers together. "U-uzumaki-san… seems quite p-protective over y-you…"

"She's just as loud and annoying as her cousin," he muttered out with no real bite to his words.

The petite female placed a hand over her mouth. "Sh-she just really c-cares about you… It's… nice… Umm… pasta… I th-think I'll g-get pasta…" She pointed timidly at one stand that sold some… pasta. At least it looked edible.

"I was going to get the same thing." He inwardly winced. He'd neglected to remember that zoo food was overpriced and barely edible, but his companion didn't seem to mind. What an odd heiress.

Thankfully, the line was short so they didn't have to wait long. Hinata shot him a tentative smile, and upon acknowledging it, her smile grew a bit bigger before she ended up talking to the pasta guy.

He was grateful that little fiasco with Karin didn't screw up any chance he may have with her. Not many other girls would have appreciated Karin butting in and accusing them in such a manner. Then again, the other girls wouldn't have done a 'trial date' thing with him and would have thrown themselves off a cliff for a chance to be with him. They also would have gotten into some sort of bitching match with the red-head.

* * *

><p>Lunch was a tad awkward, just a tad. Karin made up about 70% of the conversation, while Suigetsu was around 25%. The last 5% was of course split 3-2% Hinata and Sasuke respectively. The bluenette only spoke more as questions were thrown at her by the dysfunctional pair.<p>

She must have found it strange that the two people bullying her for her high school life were now interrogating her for his sake. She probably needed time to adjust, and that's when he stepped in and redirected the conversation, making Karin start and argument with Suigetsu or vice versa (it wasn't too hard after all).

The 'candy-cane' pair made up the background noise as the four of them ended up walking through the reptile section, the safari area, the birds, and then the Australian animals. Thanks to his friends, majority of his time was spent controlling them, either mediating fights lest they get kicked out, or preventing them from being too overbearing towards the Hyuuga heiress. It wouldn't be the first time they were kicked out from somewhere (he could now never step into a number of arcade and bowling alleys thanks to those two).

He did get a couple of moments in-between with Hinata, even if they were almost always cut short by one of the two other companions, or little kids, or just everyone else in general. He knew he shouldn't have picked a place with screaming children and adolescents trying to look cool. Was everyone just out to ruin today for him? Just when he'd thought Suigetsu and Karin were pre-occupied arguing over a kangaroo, some kid around 4 years old had to lose his parents, and Hinata was too nice to leave the kid alone. Thus, they spent the next 45 minutes looking for the midget's parents.

Stupid brat.

By the time they found the irresponsible parents, who were overjoyed to find their son who was way too attached to Hinata, it was almost closing time.

Irritated, he offered to drive Hinata home because that way, Karin and Suigetsu couldn't interfere anymore. After a hasty goodbye to his two friends and much protest from the bluenette, the two of them were sitting in his car, cruising along one of the roads.

"Today was just… About Suigetsu and Karin… I talked to Karin before that but she…" he trailed off, unsure of how to even continue the subject. He didn't really get to spend much time with Hinata thanks to all the interruptions at the zoo (note to self, never go to the zoo _ever_ again). He kept his focus on the road, not really wanting to see Hinata's annoyance or disappointment.

"It's f-fine…" she replied softly. "They are y-your friends, and I would eventually… enc-counter them. And… umm well… I also g-got to learn m-more about you, Uchiha-s-san…" Her gaze was fixed on something out the window.

He thought back to what he had done over the day. Most of the time he was irritated at something, be it his two friends or the people around them, especially the children. But it wasn't like he was going to start acting differently just because he was trying to date her. If he tried to act differently, she would find out eventually. There was no point being something you weren't. He sighed; all he'd shown her so far was how easily aggravated he got.

"Y-you're very c-close with your f-friends. I-I have n-never seen you s-so open b-before…" she commented, her voice breaking through his thoughts.

Sure they were a pain in the ass half the time, but he wouldn't trade them for any others. "Hn."

"Umm… thank you, Uchiha-san… f-for t-today, I m-mean," she added on the last part hastily. "It w-was an… experience."

She wasn't facing him, so from the quick glance he shot her way, he couldn't tell what her expression was. It would have been better to have this sort of conversation when he wasn't driving. "Good or bad?" he asked, curious, hoping it was the former.

From the corner of his eye, he could see her fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweater. "Umm… I'm n-not s-sure…"

At least she didn't outright say it was bad, so he had that going for him. He nodded, unsure of how to answer that, and the car was plunged into silence once again.

It was only when they reached the area where the Hyuuga household was did Hinata speak up again (yes he knew where her house was; Neji lived there too, so he was _not_ some sort of stalker). "So umm… w-when are you f-free t-tomorrow? I c-can only m-make it p-past one…"

"One's fine. I can pick you up from your house."

"Th-that's n-not necessary!" she protested quickly, looking up at him with wide eyes and hands raised. "I r-rather n-not inconvenience y-you…"

"It's fine," he replied as he pulled up in front of the mansion. "Besides, tomorrow's destination can be a surprise." He shot her a small smirk.

She looked rather flustered. "Umm… ok-kay?" She looked away quickly, but he saw the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks.

Hmm… he better use all his Uchiha charm on her for the next 5 days. He looked over at the house only to see a mop of dark hair disappear quickly behind the curtains. Must be a relative. "Tomorrow at one then?"

Hinata nodded in confirmation. "T-tomorrow at one." She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. "Umm… g-good n-night, Uchiha-san."

He blinked. "Night, Hyuuga."

She hopped out of the car and closed the door softly. He made sure she entered the house, in which she gave him a short wave before closing the door, before he opened the glove compartment and pulled out the small black notebook.

Hmm… now where to go tomorrow?


	4. Day 3

_Hi, guys! Does anyone still read this story? Just want to know if I still have an audience. (On a side note, happy new year!)  
>I know, I know, I'm super late and I apologise I don't think you want to hear my excuses. I managed to finish my honours year, and I will start PhD in FebMarch._  
><em>I spent ages on this chapter because I practically had to force it out. I didn't like how it flowed, and I know it's rather short... the next one should be longer to make up for it. Once again, ideas and feedback are always welcome! Not much humour in this chapter...<br>_

_I also want to thank all you guys! Really! 49 reviews, 50 favourites, and 112 follows is amazing! You've made me really happy~_

_Thank you to my lovely reviewers! You guys keep me motivated~ Shout out to: Resya018, franny, justsukiya, aurora0914, KonnyakuJelly, farahb, qpenelope, Fher34, Guest (1), byzelo (for reviewing all 3 chapters!), Guest (2), Guest (3) (Sorry, no Hinata's PoV), mana66, and kandita! I'd give you all ANZAC biscuits, but I'm not sure how many of you would enjoy them.  
><em>

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><p>He was 10 minutes early, sitting in his shiny black Mercedes outside the Hyuuga manor. The place was impressive, but it (obviously) didn't match up to the Uchiha household. Hopefully, none of the Hyuuga security guards would come up to him and ask him what he was doing loitering around the outside the house of Japan's biggest media company in a sleek black Mercedes (which could totally give the wrong impression because, hey, just his luck, right?).<p>

His brother had invited him to lunch in the morning, but he had to decline in order to meet with Hinata. This of course prompted some teasing from the older Uchiha _("you like her but she doesn't like you back" _Itachi had practically sung out in that annoying tune_)_, in which he ended the conversation like a mature person by eloquently telling his brother to _'shut up'_ and then made a 'tactical retreat' to the Hyuuga household. So what if he had a notebook? He flipped to the first page of the notebook and scowled. His brother's neat handwriting was on the bottom left corner of the page reading _'Good luck, my socially awkward brother. I know you're going to need it.'_

Sasuke slammed the book closed and shoved it in the glove compartment. Curse Itachi! He muttered out a few choice words while turning his attention to the main gates and to his _date_.

His cell phone went off, startling him out of his thoughts. He quickly grabbed it upon seeing the name _'Hyuuga Hinata'_ flit across the screen.

"_Uchiha-san?"_ Her voice was quiet and tentative.

"Hyuuga."

"_Umm… are you h-here yet?"_

"I'm waiting outside."

He heard her gasp. _"I'm so s-sorry, Uchiha-san! I… umm… d-do you m-mind waiting a f-few minutes?"_

"No."

"_Umm… ok-kay… I'll t-try and hur-ry up…"_

He pulled the phone away, amused that she had hung up on him without giving any notice. He chucked his phone on the dashboard holder and crossed his arms, thinking about the situation.

Come to think of it, what would his parents say if he ended up dating a Hyuuga? For some reason, their families were rivals of a sort even though they weren't in the same line of business. And, knowing how stuffy both of their families were, how would _her_ parents take it?

If all went well, maybe he should show up for those stupid corporate dinners. Come to think of it, wasn't there one tomorrow? If she was going to that then he was most definitely going. After all, he wouldn't pass up the chance to see her in formal wear since it should be more flattering than the jackets she seemed to have a penchant for. That and he had to watch out for his older brother. Even if Itachi was kidding… god forbid if Hinata preferred his brother over him.

His phone buzzed and he picked it up, wondering if Hinata had forgotten something. He frowned upon seeing a text message from the dobe. He was just surprised that Naruto would be up this early (you know, if 1pm was considered_ early_). Knowing Naruto, he was probably up until 5 in the morning playing some sort of dungeon crawler or having a movie marathon. Curious, he opened the message.

_teme, goin 2 Rasengan. u wnt 2 come? Sakura n Sai r gonna b dere 2._

Why couldn't Naruto spell like a normal person? He sighed. It was kind of sad that he could read Naruto's messages with ease now.

_No, banned from there too. Suigetsu and Karin broke the DDR machine._

Within seconds, he received a reply. _gdamit, teme! ur spposd 2 hlp me get tckts!_

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Where were all the vowels going? _I'm not your prizewinner, dobe. Get it yourself._

He put the phone back on the dashboard and ignored Naruto's reply.

A knock on the window diverted his attention. He rolled down his window to see Hinata sporting… yet another overly large thin sweater (wasn't she warm in that?) in pale blue, and a pair of jeans. At least at the dinner she couldn't wear overly large sweaters… unless she wore a jacket over herself the entire time. Damn.

"Um… h-hey," Hinata said softly, raising her hand in greeting.

He gave his usual 'hn' in greeting, and both of them stared at each other for a few silent moments. "Are you going to get in or…?"

She let out a small 'eep' noise before quickly running around the car. His lips twitched slightly, and he resumed his usual poker face before she opened the door and seated herself in the passenger seat. The bluenette fastened the seatbelt and the busied herself with poking her index fingers together.

"… g-good afternoon, Uchiha-san…" she managed to get out with minimal stuttering. "Umm… d-do I g-get to know where w-we're g-going?"

"…botanical gardens… you like… plants, right?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw her raise her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the giggle (which he heard anyway). What was so funny about that question? He started his car and pulled away from the curb.

"P-plants…! Umm… y-yes, I l-like _plants_." She giggled. "D-do you?"

At least she hadn't closed herself off. He was kind of expecting her to, thanks to the disastrous date yesterday. Now he had an agreement with his meddlesome friends – they wouldn't bother him for a week, and he'd hang out with them at whatever time the following week (which meant he was probably going to end up funding any outings, like the amusement park that the pair wouldn't shut up about in the last week of class, or an all-you-can-eat buffet because his friends were cheap-ass bastards).

"I don't mind."

With a small smile, she replied, "You're rath-ther thoughtfu-ful…"

"Good to know."

The bluenette let out a quiet laugh before staring out the window.

They lapsed into silence, with some sort of trashy pop song playing in the background (he blamed Naruto for that one; the blonde liked to listen to that sort of thing and he couldn't be bothered to change it since he gave Naruto rides often enough, and every time he changed it, his best friend would just change it back and complain about his 'taste in music' since the blonde didn't understand classical music).

It was only after a couple of songs did Hinata speak up. "Umm… Uchiha-san… are you… g-going to the d-dinner tomorrow? I'm j-just wonder-dering!"

He pretended to debate it for a few minutes. Surely she knew that he didn't normally attend since, _apparently,_ Itachi conversed with her on a number of occasions (in which his brother was only too happy to point out). "I'll be there."

"Eh?!"

"What?"

She raised her hands up in a placating manner. "I-I don't mean an-nything bad b-by it! I'm j-just sur-prised you're at-t-tending be-because you d-don't normal-ly… I'm so-sorry!"

"Don't apologise. There's no reason to," he replied calmly. That stutter was kind of annoying, especially when he knew she was fully capable of speaking without it.

"Yes! Umm… well, since to-tomorrow is the dinne-ner… I gu-guess we won't me-meet before then…?"

It was more of a confirmation rather than a question. He supposed it was because she wanted to take the whole day to prepare. Tch, women. "No, I guess not."

The conversation died right there. At least the music playing in the background made it a less awkward silence. Thankfully, it wasn't a long drive to the gardens.

He supposed the one good thing about the gardens was that hardly anyone around their age would be here, or so he hoped. Young people more or less congregated around the shopping districts or the common attractions. _Hopefully_ they wouldn't be bothered by anyone here.

From the corner of his eye he noted, to his satisfaction, her pearl orbs light up at the sight of the gardens. She gazed up at the sign for a moment before turning her attention back to him.

Bowing, she said, "Th-Thank you for tak-king me here, Uchi-chiha-san. I haven't been h-here in ye-years."

He responded with a noncommittal grunt and gestured for them to enter. The heiress complied and the two of them entered.

Sasuke was content with letting Hinata lead the way as he had never been in the botanical gardens and didn't really have much interest in it. Sure, the plants were nice to look at, he supposed, but it wasn't something that he would spend more than a few moments looking at before he was on his way. What was so interesting about flowers, leaves, and dirt?

Apparently there was some sort of appeal since Hinata was wandering from plant to plant, talking to herself. Her comments ranged from 'Oh, they have them here?' to 'These are gorgeous. I need to get some'. Amused at her ramblings, he trailed after her as they made their way through the rainbow carpets and towering giants. It was good to know that she appeared to be enjoying herself, but it was like he wasn't even there.

It was as if she'd read his mind. She tilted her head to look back at him. "Umm… S-Sorry, Uchiha-san. I just… um… d-do you… I m-mean, are you hav-ving f-fun?" Her expression turned into a slight wince as if asking an Uchiha if he was having _fun_ was an accident (he knew what fun was, he just had a very different view of fun than his friends).

Shrugging, he fell in step with her. "So why do you like plants?"

"My m-mother and I used to g-garden," she replied without looking at him. "I suppose my m-mother's l-love of garden-ning rubbed off on me."

Right, he'd heard from someone in his family that the Hyuuga matriarch had passed away some years back. "I don't suppose your family is too happy with you tending to plants in the dirt, are they?"

"Not really, but otou-san d-doesn't care so long as I d-do wh-whatev-ver he requires…" She bent down to inspect some red flowers, tentatively reaching out to touch the petals.

He paused, unsure as to what to say because what could he say to that? He too had a father that only cared about whether or not he dealt with his responsibilities, although his mother was a bit too invested in his social life, or lack thereof (apparently being banned from arcades or hanging out at ramen places wasn't considered a 'social life'). Instead, he offered her his hand to help her back up again. "Think of it as a freedom, because we probably won't get much when we come of age."

Hinata stared at him for a moment, stunned, before she turned her attention to his hand. "That's true. When I take over the company, I won't have much time to garden. And thank you, Uchiha-kun." She grasped his hand and waited for him to pull her up. After a couple of seconds of him just holding her hand, she looked up at him, confused.

"You didn't stutter." _And she changed from –san to –kun…_ The raven pulled her up.

When he saw comprehension dawn on her, he immediately regretted mentioning her stuttering. "I… umm… it c-comes and g-goes… I also w-want to thank y-you for that. I nev-ver thought of it th-that way."

She looked down and he followed her gaze to their still joined hands. He quickly dropped her hand, figuring she was uncomfortable. After a small, fake cough, he said, "Don't mention it."

His comment earned him a small smile before she looked back down at the flowers. At least things were a lot less hectic than the previous day and that she was still willing to spend time with him. He was pretty sure that if it were anyone else, they wouldn't have given him the time of day.

"Hinata-chan?!"

Irritated at the intrusion because that sounded like a _young, female voice,_ Sasuke turned to look at whoever the hell was interrupting them. He certainly didn't recognise the three people walking towards them. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata stand up to peer over at the speaker.

"Hinata-chan! It _is_ you! I haven't seen you in _years_! You're _so_ pretty now."

"T-Temari-san?" She looked between the blonde and the two guys accompanying her. "What are you th-three doing in Tokyo?"

The pigtailed girl grinned at the look on the heiress' face. "We've got a meeting with the Uchiha Corporation." Temari arched an eyebrow at Hinata. "And who's this?"

Hinata brushed some dirt off the bottom of her sweater. "Umm… This is Uchiha Sasuke-kun," she said as she gestured at the raven next to her. "Uchiha-kun, this is Sabaku Temari-san and her two brothers, Gaara-kun and Kankurou-san." She gestured at the red-head and brunette respectively. "I'm sure you two are acquainted with each other's families…"

Sasuke eyed the trio warily while inclining his head in greeting. He knew of the Sabaku family that owned the largest supplement company in Japan. He was not privy to the meeting between his family and theirs, however, as he wasn't the heir to the business. Still… why was Hinata addressing the emerald-eyed male with –kun?

With a smirk, the blonde asked, "Are you two dating?"

Before he could reply, the heiress choked and stared at her friend. "N-N-No!" she exclaimed as she waved her hands about in a negative gesture, her face colouring to what he saw as an unhealthy shade of red.

"We're just friends," he said calmly. _For now, unfortunately._

The emerald-eyed male's voice was a quiet baritone. "Hinata, how do you know…" There was a pause. "Uchiha."

He narrowed his eyes slightly at the very deliberate intonation in that question. He glanced at his companion only to see her look between the two of them, confused. "Umm… we… we were in a couple of classes together this year." A pause. "We're f-friends." She looked nervously at him. "I went to the same primary school as Gaara-kun. I… used to live in Kanagawa."

Sasuke was a bit confused at that. He and Neji had gone to the same school for all their life, and Neji had said he was under the care of Hiashi, so wouldn't that mean the two of them should have been brought up together? The older Hyuuga had never mentioned the heiress until she had attended their high school halfway through year 10. "But you moved to Tokyo…?"

She shrugged a bit awkwardly. "Fam-mily matters." Looking a bit hopefully towards her friends, she asked, "How long will you be here for?"

"Another three days," Kankurou replied. "We've gotta attend the party Senju-sama is throwing, then the meeting is the following day, and then we get a day off." He counted off the days with his fingers.

Where the Uchiha ended up having to mask his scowl, Hinata's face lit up. "You're attending Senju-sama's party as well?"

"Yes, we're all going," the red-head replied.

Temari sidled up to her youngest brother. "Ehh, what's this Gaara? I thought-!" She was abruptly cut off by an elbow to her left side. "Son of a-"

Gaara shot a pointed look at both his siblings. "We're _all_ going," he repeated.

Hinata, predictably, was oblivious to this, but Sasuke was not. He glared at the red-head, who returned his expression with equal distaste. He did _not_ like that guy. Not at all.

"Umm… can I get your numbers? We never got to exchange contact info before, you know…" Hinata asked quietly as she pulled out her phone.

Sasuke watched as the four of them exchanged contact information, Gaara the last one to do so. The younger male ended up engaging the heiress in a conversation, much to his displeasure. Unfortunately, the eldest sibling ended up talking to him.

"Are you going to Senju-sama's dinner party as well, Uchiha-kun?"

If he wasn't going before, he sure as hell would be going now. "Naturally," he replied, his tone clipped.

The blonde huffed as if insulted. Good, maybe she would cut the small talk.

"We should get going," Kankurou said as he looked down at his phone. "Baki's waiting outside."

"Hmph. Seeya, Uchiha." Temari waved her hand and walked back over to the Hyuuga. "See you tomorrow, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata bowed politely. "Yes, see you three tomorrow. It was nice being able to see you again after so long."

Great, now he had to deal with those three tomorrow. His jaw clenched in irritation as he watched the Sabaku siblings say their goodbyes and head off.

"I'm s-sorry ab-bout that…" Hinata bowed her head in apology. "I… umm… haven't s-seen them in s-six y-years…" She fidgeted with the edge of her sweater.

"Hn." Obsidian eyes surveyed the surrounding area. "So," he said as he inclined his head towards the plants off to the right, "What are those?"

Startled, the heiress glanced over in the direction he indicated, seeing the violet flowers neatly lined up in rows. "Those are hyaci-cinths. And th-the ones next to them a-are begonias." She pointed at the light pink flowers.

He made an affirmative noise and resumed walking down the path they were taking before they were interrupted. "And the orange ones?"

She rushed to catch up with him, finally falling in step. "Err… those are orch-chids. Umm… they're used in t-tradition-nal m-medicine and umm… vanilla pods come fr-from the vanilla orchid."

Hinata seemed happy enough to talk about her beloved plants and he obliged, not usually the one to initiate conversation. Her voice was soothing, and she seemed fairly relaxed when talking about the flowers since her stuttering slowly decreased as they continued along the path. Soon enough, he had managed to get to a point where the bluenette didn't stutter at all when talking to him. He was inwardly relieved that his decision to go to the botanical gardens was a good one. While he didn't particularly care about the flowers themselves, he paid attention to Hinata, attempting to figure out what her favourite flower was. So far he hadn't been able to discern it since she seemed genuinely happy about all of them.

For the most part, he was surprised at how much she knew about flowers, especially the ones with medicinal value. Maybe it was one of her hobbies? He did ask her and she shyly told him that dabbling with salves and herbal medicines was indeed one of her hobbies. He mentally noted that point down for later.

Of course, she did reciprocate the question, which then lead to a few other simple get-to-know-you questions, like what do you like to eat? What was your favourite subject? Favourite colour? How many siblings do you have? What are they like?

He had no idea she had a younger sister, five years younger. He thought she was an only child. Hinata made her sound like such an angel, and made Neji sound like such a saint. Knowing that the prodigy was anything _but_ a saint, he took her words with a grain of salt in regards to her sister. Listening to her talk about her family was nice. It was the most he'd ever heard from her and she always had a fond smile whenever she mentioned her cousin or her sister.

He was enjoying his time with her and forgot about the time, at least until his phone went off. Recognising the ringtone he had given his brother, he sighed and excused himself. Hinata, being Hinata, had gestured the 'okay'.

"What do you want, aniki?" Why were there so many goddamn interruptions?

"_You know, we have a dinner with Madara-ojisan in forty-five minutes."_

Shit. He had completely forgotten. After cursing and gritting out a rough 'thank you', he hung up and pocketed his phone. "Lost track of time and forgot I have to attend a dinner at six…"

Her mouth formed an 'o' shape before she nodded in understanding. "That's fine. I umm…" She blushed. "Hope I haven't b-bored you with m-my ramb-blings."

He raised an eyebrow at the return of her stutter. He definitely preferred it when she didn't. "I wasn't bored."

Hinata gave him a small, but warm smile. He could feel a little heat in his cheeks and forced himself to calm down. "I g-guess you're in a r-rush. Umm… I need to b-buy a couple of things fr-from the store, s-so you can head ba-back home. Hanabi-chan should still be in th-the area. I can g-give her a call."

"Are you sure? I can drop you off."

She waved her hands. "No, it's okay. You umm… don't have much t-time, right? One of our c-cousins is dr-driving Hanabi-chan around anyway, so it's n-not a problem. I c-can call them r-right now if it m-makes you feel better."

He nodded and waited for her. Why did he have to have a dinner with Madara _today_ out of all days? His uncle had such bad timing (he pointedly ignored the fact that he basically set himself up for this week long ordeal).

"Ko-san will be h-here in ten min-nutes."

Nodding, he gestured towards the direction of the exit. "Shall we go?"

He was unsurprised to see the silver limousine already waiting in the carpark for the heiress (because, seriously, who _else_ would have a limo at the botanical gardens at this hour?). A man with the same eyes as Hinata stood at the door.

"Hinata-sama. Hanabi-sama is still at _The Emporium_. She asked you to choose dinner." He bowed at both of them before facing the younger male. "Uchiha-san, thank you for looking after Hinata-sama."

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow," he said to his companion.

"My sister…" Hinata shook her head before looking at the raven. "Umm… yes, I'll s-see you tom-morrow at th-the p-party." She bowed before walking over to Ko, who opened the door for her.

As the car drove away, he saw her wave, if a bit timidly, and he returned the gesture before walking over to his own car. While he started up the Mercedes, his thoughts wandered to the party Tsunade was throwing tomorrow.

Maybe it was time to ask his brother for some advice.

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><p><em>AN: Does anyone want to see Sasuke give Hinata flowers in a cliche way? :D  
><em>


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